2018 Board of Education Primary Election Candidate Questionnaire

In the 2018 Gubernatorial Election cycle, the primary election will be held on Juen 26th, 2018. Early Voting will be held from June 14th to June 21st. Board of Education election is non-partisan. This means that voters of any(or no) partisan affiliation may vote in the Board of Education primary. This year, the positions to be voted for is Board of Education members for District 1, 3, 5, and At-Large. The top two vote-getter in the primary in each District will advance to the General Election on November 6th, 2018. The winner of the General Election will assume the Board of Education member seats for the aforementioned districts in 2019.

The following questions were sent to the candidates

Vision for MCPS
1a . what do you think is the goal of education in general? What should be the priorities of MCPS? Why?

1b. Where do you think MCPS needs to improve?

2. Meeting the Special Needs of Gifted and Talented (GT) Students

In the FY19 Operating Budget, the Office of Accelerated and Enriched Instruction (AEI) has been effectively eliminated. As a Board of Education member, what
initiatives will you undertake to ensure that the needs of GT students are met, pursuant to COMAR 13A.04.07?

2a. Transparency
Recently, there are increased voice to expand the GT/Magnet program. However, the future plan of the county and policy change at current center programs remained vague to many parents and students. This year’s middle school field test for the “center programs” experienced a sudden and massive change in admission criteria and policy at Down County .It caused widespread confusion and frustration for many students and parents. How would you increase the transparency of MCPS decision making and admission practices in the future? How would you ensure that stakeholder inputs are effectively incorporated before a massive policy change?

4. Diversity of MCPS Teacher and Administration Workforce

Asian American educators are severely underrepresented in MCPS’ professional workforce and very few administrators in Principal position or above director levels are Asian Americans. Would you be committed to increase the representation of Asian Americans in MCPS’ leadership and administration rank? What is your plan?

5. Capital Investment Planning

With increasing enrollment year after year, many MCPS schools are overcrowded and its buildings rapidly deteriorating. If elected, how would you set funding priorities to address the school infrastructure investment?

6. Advocacy for MCPS in Annapolis

Families invest living in Montgomery County keep a keen eye on the strength of our school system. This year county residents are doing their part of keeping our schools great by paying 8.7% more on property tax. If elected, how will you advocate for more state funding and what creative ways do you have to find other revenue options?

7. Bullying, School Climate, and Student Social-Emotional Wellness

Bullying/Cyberbullying, mental health, and overall social-emotional wellness are pressing issues for many MCPS families. If elected, what initiatives would you take to mitigate the impacts of the aforementioned issues? What strategies will you direct MCPS to pursue to confront cyber-bullying?

8. Honoring Cultural Heritage

The Asian American minority group has a distinct cultural heritage and history in this county. For our younger generation to grow up feeling self-confident and accepted, we believe that our culture and history need to be acknowledged, respected, and taught in school. We found that in, in MCPS Middle School social studies or high school history classes on Asian American history and culture, currently, there are very limited materials on Asian American Culture, and very limited time are spent on them, even though Asian American students count for 14%~15% of the the MSCP student population. How can we integrated more Asian American history and culture content in our curriculum? How will you increase the cultural proficiency, particularly Asian American culture proficiency, among MCPS staff?

9. School Boundary
As new schools are built, many traditional school boundaries will be, or are being redrawn, what is your top 4 criteria in evaluating school boundary options? Why are these criteria important to you?

Primary Election candidate responses are available below.

District 1

District 3

Laura Simon

District 5

Brenda Wolff

At-Large

Ryan Arbuckle